The Confusion of Ron Weasley
by newyork24-7
Summary: Ron doesn't quite understand why he's suddenly so bothered by what Hermione looks like or what she does, and comes up with a strange conclusion.


**A bit of a pointless oneshot I admit but I felt the sudden need to write it regardless. **

**I think 4th year was when Ron started to feel more than friendship towards Hermione but I don't think he recognised it at that time. I've tried to keep closely to the book, but if I remember rightly then we never saw Ron's initial reaction to Hermione and Krum until after the first dance so I have played around with it a little.**

**Anyway enough of my rambles, I hope you enjoy.**

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><p>Ron Weasley was miffed, he'd expected Hermione to be happy, grateful even that he'd invited her to the ball, only instead she'd looked rather insulted by the whole proposal. He looked over at Harry expecting to find him looking just as bewildered by their female friend's behaviour, only to find that instead he was looking at him in a mixture of disbelief and what almost looked like pity. Ron frowned at him, "What?" he asked irately.<p>

Harry simply shook his head. "Aw mate," he mumbled, that irritating look still on his face.

Ron's teeth ground together, being turned down by Hermione had stung more than he'd thought possible, in fact he wasn't even sure why it bothered him so much. "She's lying," he informed anyone close by.

"She's not lying," Ginny contradicted him, and he was confused by the fact that she too looked annoyed at him - actually she was his sister so he wasn't that confused, she normally looked irritated by him just breathing.

Sinking down in his seat, a low huff of annoyance escaping him, Ron seethed silently, not even noticing when Harry suddenly got his feet and rushed over to the opposite end of the common room. Glaring at his shoes, Ron tried to decide who could possibly have asked Hermione, after all she spent most of her time hidden behind a book, and as far as he knew she didn't speak to other boys that much.

He was still brooding when Harry dropped back down into his seat next to him. "Got us dates," he told him grimly. "The Patil twins

Ron grunted his acknowledgement, all of a sudden having a date for this stupid ball wasn't the most important thing on his mind.

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><p>Ron craned his head over the crowd, and he couldn't help but crow triumphantly, "Told you she didn't have a date, if only she'd swallowed her pride-" He stopped talking much to the relief of his date when he heard the music strike up and watched as Harry grabbed the hand of his date and stumbled awkwardly onto the dance floor.<p>

He sniggered at his friend's misfortune and his clumsy moves, his eyes scanning lazily over the rest of the champions - avoiding Fluer, a glazed expression and drool would only make his robes look even worse - when he saw her. His jaw dropped. She looked…amazing.

Padma nudged him hard in his side. "What?" he asked, annoyed at being distracted.

She glared at him. "Everyone else is dancing, ask me."

Ron blinked at her. "Ask you what?"

She rolled her eyes. "To dance."

"Aw…right." Ron scratched the back of his head, he really didn't want to do this. "Well…um…do you want to dance?"

"Yes." With that she grabbed his hand and started to drag him onto the floor. Ron moved his head so that he could look over his shoulder, trying to keep Hermione in view. When he saw her laugh at something Krum had said he let out a noise of annoyance.

"Did you just growl?" Padma asked him.

"No…coughed," he replied quickly, stepping quickly forward to try and get a better look at Hermione's new look. It wasn't even any startling changes, her face looked much the same, it was just no longer obscured by her trademark frizz, and her figure was no longer hidden by flowing robes. In fact she had some really nice curves, and if he took another tiny step forward then from his angle he'd be able to get a closer view down the scooped neckline of her -

"OW! You keep standing on my toes," Padma told him sharply, interrupting his thoughts and glaring at him as she did so.

"Sorry," Ron mumbled distractedly. He felt…strange, in fact he'd never felt anything like this before. He wanted to punch Krum, could no longer see the amazing moves he'd made as a star Quidditch player whenever he thought about him, but instead saw his beefy hands clutching at Hermione's waist, only a mere inch or two from touching the curve of her bum. His hands clenched and he was dimly aware of Padma hissing her annoyance. "Sorry," he automatically told her again.

"I think we're finished dancing," she told him sharply as the song ended.

"Um…ok?" He replied, uncaring whether they were dancing or not.

His scowl deepened as he saw that Krum had shuffled ever so slightly closer to Hermione. Cheeky git. What did he even ask her for? Why did it have to be Hermione? She should have been here with him!

Confused, Ron continued to stare. What was going on? Why was he suddenly so interested in Hermione's love life, or her new curves, or the sound of her laughing. He grimaced as his stomach lurched at the sight of Krum stealing a peck on her cheek. Maybe he'd eaten something a bit off at lunch…yeah…that must be it.


End file.
